House changes to lead safety bill draws pushback

By Judi Currie jcurrie@seacoastonline.com

Saturday

Jan 13, 2018 at 5:03 PMJan 13, 2018 at 5:03 PM

CONCORD — A bill that aims to protect children from lead poisoning has broad support in and out of the Legislature, but some worry recent changes to the legislation could create financial risks for property owners.

Senate Bill 247 was approved last fall and sent to the House, which approved it Jan. 3, but with an amendment that replaced grant funds that would have helped with lead abatement with a loan program. The bill now heads back to the Senate for review. The change to funding mechanism has supporters of the measure concerned, but even the amended version still has a lot to offer.

Tom Irwin, director of the New Hampshire office of the Conservation Law Foundation, said the bill makes important changes to protect children. He said one of the most significant parts of the bill is universal testing for 1- and 2-year-olds.

"Far too few children in New Hampshire are being tested for blood lead levels, and there are likely a lot of kids out there who are undiagnosed, but who have lead poisoning, and are being exposed to lead hazards," he said. "New Hampshire’s rate of lead poisoning is 2.5 times the national average."

Irwin said another important change is the level at which action is taken, saying New Hampshire's level is too high.

"The Centers for Disease Control concluded there is no safe level for children and even very low levels can have permanent and irreversible health effects so they have recommended that interventions begin at the level of five micro-grams per deciliter," Irwin said. "So right now we are at twice that."

Irwin said SB247 would reduce the level at which action is required from 10 micro-grams per deciliter to five, phased in with 7.5 in July 2019, and then five in July 2021. When the state learns of a child with a blood lead level of five or higher it sends information to parents and landlords to better inform them to help the parent and property owners to be more proactive. Irwin said those notifications will be triggered by a test result of three micro-grams per deciliter.

New Hampshire has the oldest housing stock in the country with 62 percent built before 1978 when lead paint was banned. Irwin said as lead paint deteriorates it creates exposures and it takes very little exposure to lead to lead poisoning. Lead poisoning in a child age 0 to 7 can cause permanent harm, including loss of IQ, behavioral problems, attention deficit disorders, and a whole host of cognitive impairments, he said.

A family living on Summer Street, in Dover's Heritage District, learned firsthand the impact of lead paint. Bill Burr and his wife bought a large home in an area where most similar structures have been broken up into condominiums or apartments.

"This was about to be chopped up," Burr said. "It had been empty for 10 years and the only interest was from developers," Burr said.

The couple has four young children and when one had a routine lead level test, the results were so high they were told to return the next day for additional tests.

From a health perspective things have gone well, but the cost to fix the lead problems could have meant the loss of their home. Burr said the highest bid was about $180,000 and even the lowest was looking unmanageable. They found a way to make it work and expected to be out of the home for three weeks.

"We left on October 1 and came back just days before Christmas," Burr said.

Although most of wood trim and paneling had never been painted, walls, floors and the exterior contained layer upon layer of lead-based paint.

"They removed 400 to 500 pounds of lead paint just from the outside," Burr said. "All the doors were taken off and all the windows had to be taken apart."

While some people have an image of a child eating a paint chip, Burr said that is not the real issue. "It is all about friction surfaces, opening and closing the windows and doors create dust," he said. "Over time it gets on the floor and the child rolls a toy across the floor."

There are lead removal techniques but also abatement, where surfaces are covered or encapsulated. The Burrs took this approach on the third floor where their children will each have their own rooms and spaces someday. Burr said if all the lead had to be removed it would have cost $1 million dollars and probably destroyed the house in the process. The historic details are what make the home special.

While the Senate version of the bill established a $6 million grant program for landlords and property owners, the House amended it to a loan guarantee instead.

Bob Quinn, governmental affairs director of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, said they have been supportive but feel the Senate version was better for all concerned.

"The Realtors have expressed to the Legislature, as Senate Bill 247 has been debated, that there has to be a balance between protecting children from the real risks, the very real risk of lead poisoning, while ensuring those same families are not priced out of the housing market due to escalating rental costs," Quinn said. "We felt that the Senate version balanced those well."

Realtors signed a letter in support but are concerned that the House version eliminated much of the assistance for property owners to ensure their units are made lead-safe while protecting consumers from financial impact.

"We just feel like the revolving loan program will provide minimal assistance but a grant program would incentivize landlords to make a unit lead-safe immediately, regardless of whether or not a child has elevated lead levels in their blood," Quinn said. "That is what everyone would support and get behind."

Realtors were pleased that the House changed the bill to segregate abatement to the impacted unit, Quinn said. In one recent instance, he said, an entire 8-unit apartment was under abatement, everyone had to move out and the cost was about $100,000. "If you start to force property owners to abandon properties and walk away, it will exacerbate the shortage of rental units," he said.

Quinn said everyone recognizes the need to make the units lead-safe but the grant program was a way to get it done while ensuring rents are not increased. "It is a win-win for everybody," he said. "The Senate agreed and we are disappointed the House changed it."

SB247 also addresses some drinking water testing provisions for schools and day cares. Irwin said only after tragedy in Flint, Michigan, did the N.H. Department of Environmental Services ask schools to test their water, but it is currently not mandatory.

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